31 Aug 2010 - For a long time the stethoscope has been one of the symbols of the medical profession. However, the stethoscope - medical icon, life-saver and doctor's best friend - is increasingly disappearing from hospitals across the world as physicians use their
smartphones to monitor patients' heart beats. More than three million doctors have downloaded a HKD 7 application - invented by Peter Bentley, a researcher from University College, London - that turns the Apple iPhone into a stethoscope. Experts said that the software has saved lives and enabled doctors in remote areas to access specialist expertise. Bentley's iStethoscope application is not the only tool lightening doctors' bags: there are about 6,000 applications related to health in the Apple App store. The uptake has been rapid. It was reported that two-thirds of the doctors are using smartphones, and 80% of doctors they will own a smartphone by 2012.
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